LYIF
by Cotto
Summary: This is a love-story, not much romance, but it's truly a love-story. As the title indicates: "Loving you is fun!" it deals with the fun it is to love someone- emphasis on the "You" in the wording. Rest assured, this short story has to do with mainly platonic love as a source of real true delight. Please read, review/comment, and enjoy.


**L. Y. I. F! Loving _You_ Is Fun!**

 _ **By James Carmody.**_

 **Disclaimer:** _Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the comics thereof, and the entire franchise is the property of Joss Whedon. I will not infringe on his right to his royalties. He gets the money for this series, I don/t. I reject any money for this story- end of discussion!_

 **Pairing(s):** _Spike/Buffy/Satsu._

 **Characters:** _Spike, Elizabeth {Buffy} Anne Summers, Satsu._

 **Setting:** _The apartment that Buffy and Spike share in the Season 10 Comics, when Satsu comes to try to recruit Buffy to help them work out the monster problem._

 **Summary:** _This is a love-story, not much romance, but it's truly a love-story. As the title indicates: "Loving_ you _is fun!" it deals with the fun it is to love someone- emphasis on the "You" in the wording. Rest assured, this short story has to do with mainly platonic love as a source of real true delight. Please read, review/comment, and enjoy._

 **Genre(s):** _Friendship, Drama, Romance (yes, it is a love story)._

 **Author's Story Notes:** _This is a proper love-story, but not much romance will be in it._

 _This:_ [text] _means: temptation, prayer, or telepathy, or any or all three._

 _There will be a_ ** _lot_** _of friendship-love going on here._

 _Should be fun, any questions: please ask, but let me answer._

 _Finally, have fun with reading this story._

 _Oh, and the emphasis in the title is on the "You", as in to emphasize the other person in the relationship- something central to love, which comes in multiple forms, most of which are entirely proper for anybody to engage in._

 _Now, without further chatting; please sit back and enjoy the story- or check it out for your children to see if it fits your sense of morals... I welcome that._

 **Chapter 1.): "My Old Girlfriend Comes to Visit."**

 **Chapter 1 Author's Notes Beginning:** _In case you haven't read the comics, Satsu is Buffy's ex-girlfriend at this time. William Pratt {Spike} is Elizabeth's {Buffy} current love-interest. They won't necessarily get along (as the potential conflict over Elizabeth Summers' heart), but they won't fight- especially overtly, over her._

 _This is friendship for the most part. Also: due to her personal history with the US Defense Department, Buffy seems to hate the US Military, due to some events in her life, so her ex-girlfriend joining them is something upsetting for her- this has to do with personal vendettas and some other temptations that come up. I'd say that Satsu is a little bit stronger (Spiritually speaking) than Buffy is at this point in their lives. Don't worry, folks: there will be a lot of friendship and affection between them, but it Won't amount to romance- no matter what their desires are._

 _Now, without further adieu, please enjoy the first chapter of the story..._

As Buffy Summers sat down on her boyfriend Spike's bed with him, relaxing and feeling really like a huge idiot for ruining her friends lives, William was beginning to feel her pain about this. He cared about her, to the point of risking his life to be worthy of her love. In her twenties, in his eyes, she could be a bit of a b*tch about her treatment of guys: she was ridiculously particular about what it took to get her heart, and he got the impression that she was constantly stringing him along. He had loved her for years before she began to accept him as a potentially good man; and had been truly abusive of him when she was about twenty!

He was reveling in the success of getting at her heart, finally, so he was pretty happy in his heart, but her pain was transmitting to him; her emotional pain about being such an idiot in messing everything up.

He sat back on his bed, hugging her with his right arm, when the doorbell rang. _"Isn't this interesting?"_ he thought to himself as he proceeded to both get dressed and then head over to the door to see who it is. His girlfriend, Buffy, apparently had the same idea: she was already at the doorway, dressed, with her hand on the handle of the door to his apartment room that she'd been staying in for the time-being.

There was a slight disagreement between them about who should open the door. Buffy was, like any other Slayer, incredibly assertive, especially for a woman... no woman wants to be thought of as weak, especially one who is expected to fight off monsters. As for Buffy, she loved the fact that Spike wanted to be a traditional boyfriend, and was a traditional gentleman- always eager to get the door for a lady, especially his lady. _"This'd be fun if I weren't feeling like he was insulting me by insisting on getting the door: acting like people have traditionally done: guy gets the door for his lady"_ she thought to herself, a touch frustrated and rebuking herself for her overly feminist idea of her abilities _"he's just trying to be kind to me... why object to his kindness? That's just ridiculous!"_ she then paused _"That's what I am: his girlfriend. I ought to be happy: got myself a great guy- he's affectionate, but not too much so it gets creepy, we work together, so he clearly understands the importance of my work, why am I protesting this gentlemanly kindness? This is just silly."_ Buffy ridiculed herself for her reaction to his kindness, after all, what is she if not a woman? And if so, shouldn't she enjoy the same treatment women have traditionally enjoyed: the "being provided for" by their guys- while at the same time providing a safe and productive home environment for their family? And didn't she want a family- if not now, later on, perhaps? So why protest chivalry being shown to her? _"This is just preposterous!"_ she thought angrily at herself for being an idiot again- this time about her boyfriend's treatment of her.

But when Spike opened the door for his lady, she got yet another surprise: it was her ex-girlfriend, Satsu!

Spike knew Buffy had previously been in love with this woman at his door, but he'd never met her all that much- oh, they'd seen eachother from time to time, as they worked together indirectly, but this Oriental gal was someone he didn't know all that well.

After a brief fight following Satsu's sales pitch about Buffy working with "those jerks" (as Buffy clearly thought of the US Military- due to several of her friends dying in a brief but bloody war that had been profoundly one-sided: they had what amounted to assault rifles, her people had almost no military training and/or up to date weapons- they'd been slaughtered! Next a shift had occurred in the US forces political structure, and her people had been saved from utter extinction- and to make this wound itch even worse: they'd been dealing with only a small portion of that Superpower's military potential!), what had really rubbed salt in Buffy's wound was the fact that her ex was now wearing the uniform of the country that had spearheaded this "slaughter" as she thought of it- they'd been forced to surrender, utterly and completely, but had been shown mercy in the end. These two ladies had engaged in some angry words at the end of that sales pitch.

Next: Satsu surprised Spike: after fist-bumping him, the Japanese-American young woman pulled his girlfriend into a hug, whispered into her right ear "Loving _you_ is fun!", pulled her head back while keeping up the tight embrace, and proceeded to kiss her on the right cheek.

Buffy responded by hugging her ex, _"Perhaps unwisely."_ she thought as she did so, by returning the hug she was getting. She knew Satsu was in love with her, but she didn't feel the same way about the petite little female Samurai who had been dating her in her twenties. Indeed, for a number of reasons, Buffy felt that their love-affair had been wrong, somehow, immoral, basically. One major reason why is that she'd been Satsu's boss, also her land-lady, so while love, including in such situations, is not forbidden, what if Satsu had refused her some kind of affection and Buffy got angry at her? This could easily lead to a serious abuse of power on her part- some kind of bullying that would force Satsu to do as she says? Wouldn't that boarder on rape then? Or Slavery? What about Satsu's consent or wishes? That kind of thing clearly therefore violated every part of love- aside from the feelings part- which is meaningless if it contradicts the other parts of caring for another! Buffy was upset with herself for this.

 _"But was sending Satsu away the right answer? Couldn't she have just broken up with her quietly? Was she really very fair to her?"_ Buffy thought all of these nearly simultaneously as the two women hugged for about five minutes.

Meanwhile, Satsu continued hugging Buffy, but she got an impish idea, and gave Spike a friendly little wink and a smile, then proceeded to give Buffy another kiss... hugging Buffy was immense fun for Satsu, but she clearly didn't want to fight with Spike.

Spike was beginning to get alarmed by this- he got the general impression that Buffy was being moved in on by Satsu, and was starting, consensually or not, to get into fighting mode regarding his girlfriend; this he didn't want, it wasn't entirely fair- he knew these two were friends, besides: don't women tend to be a lot more affectionate than guys anyways? Besides, he suspected that Satsu was also playing with him, due her her impish wink and smile she had shown him before kissing his girlfriend again.

Satsu and Buffy were kind of rocking side-to-side in their hug when Buffy intervened and thereby kept the peace between her ex-girlfriend and her current boyfriend when she said "Alright, Satsu... I think that's enough hugging, why don't you come in and let me show you some hospitality?" Satsu's hug had been tight, but gentle at the same time.

Buffy's gamble to buy her off without a fight worked; Satsu bought it without any fuss. She willingly and happily let go, and allowed them to lead her into the living room to talk and enjoy some tea, in a friendly visit. Besides, she certainly didn't want to fight... not that she wouldn't enjoy it, but that would be contrary to her goals here and now.

Satsu sat down on Elizabeth's Summers couch, near the coffee table, and her ex, Buffy Summers, also known as Elizabeth, proceeded to get her some tea she was making.

During the time Buffy was preparing the tea for herself, her ex, and her current boyfriend, William Pratt, also known as Spike, she heard in the living room the two of them chatting oneanother up; from their conversation, she could tell that they were talking on _everything_ , especially her current events: what was going on in her life. The blonde woman smiled to herself, she was relieved that first of all they weren't fighting- she'd been afraid that her ex girlfriend and her boyfriend wouldn't get along, but to her relief, they got along hunky-dory fine.

As Buffy walked into the room some 20 minutes later, Satsu broke out laughing at one of Spike's jokes- he'd just finished the punchline and apparently it was hilarious, for Satsu broke out in the prettiest laughter Buffy'd ever seen _"She sure laughs pretty, and is pretty too."_ Buffy thought to herself as she proceeded to serve the drinks to her friends.

It was a huge relief to Buffy that her friends weren't fighting, that would really ruin her day... then she realized something about what Satsu was saying to her: 'Caring about _YOU_ is fun', ie, both one: "it has to be YOU that's being cared about for it to be fun", and two: she was saying in no uncertain terms "I love you", and with those discoveries Buffy smiled to herself, she'd been forgiven for any hurt she had inflicted on Satsu- there were no hard feelings for the breakup.

Buffy took Satsu's hands in her own, and holding them from across the table after she had sat down, she looked into the younger woman's eyes and told her "It's important that you realize that it wasn't you that's the reason we broke up. You're a very pretty young woman; but _I'm_ just not into that." Buffy looked a tad sad when she said this, and afraid she would hurt Satsu's feelings.

Indeed, Satsu was a tad hurt to hear that, and replied in her Japanese accent "So, what, I'm just an experiment?" she asked, crossly to her ex. "No Buffy, Love, I'm a _person_ , and what you did, stringing me along like that, then discarding me, that hurts more than the breakup ever could; then to hear that as if nothing is wrong?!" Satsu was getting angry, but it was clear that she wasn't angry at Spike, she was angry at Buffy for, as Satsu thought of it, "playing with her heart". Satsu felt betrayed, and looked like she was about to cry in anger over this apparent injustice. Satsu's next statement confirmed her ex's views on what was wrong in Satsu's eyes "You were wrong to do that to me- playing with my heart like that!"

Spike then spoke up in his girlfriend's defense, and seeing as he had hit it off with Satsu so well, he assumed he'd be at least tolerated by her standing up to her, besides, logic usually worked, so why wouldn't it work now? "Satsu" Spike began, "let me ask you this: did she carry on an affair with me while she was dating you?" he asked her, trying to reason with her to get her to hold back and listen to reason, and avoid a huge fight.

When Satsu shook her head "No" Spike continued "So she didn't betray you, she told you the truth, didn't she." Satsu responded again by the same reply, that he was correct in his reasoning.

"It wasn't that that hurts, Spike, it is the way she talked to me right now- as if her actions are completely excusable by means of using me as some sort of _science experiment_!" Satsu said, close to tears about her breaking heart.

Buffy then realized she'd really hurt Satsu by trying to let her down easy about the breakup. Words wouldn't do, she realized, and she got up, walked over, and sat down next to her previous girlfriend, hugging her, realizing she needed to be physically comforted- best of all, they were fully clothed, so no odds of impurity in touch- it'd be completely modest and still would comfort her in her tears. Buffy put her right arm around her ex, and held her as Satsu broke down in tears.

After a bit, Satsu, Spike, and Buffy consumed their drinks, which had cooled down quite a bit, but Buffy had been kind enough to make the tea sweet with both lemon and cream- which they all found they enjoyed. Buffy couldn't help feeling kind of like a meanie for the hurt Satsu had endured at her hands, as she tried to explain to her what had happened and why she had dumped her.

Elizabeth Summers proceeded to explain her motives for ending their relationship; they included the fact that Buffy had a huge number of incredibly powerful enemies who liked to come at her through her loved ones, and she didn't want Satsu to be hurt- this lead to a surprising reply from the petite little Oriental woman.

Satsu felt incredibly sad to be reminded that she'd been dumped by her girlfriend, and irritated, replied "I love you, you idiot.". It was a few minutes before this registered in their minds what had been said. Then a cascade of reactions occurred that floored everybody in the room!

First to figure out that inside a profession of love was an insult was William Pratt- Buffy's boyfriend, Spike; who proceeded to place his face in his hands laughing hysterically as he did so- he recited Satsu's line to Buffy "I love you, you idiot." all the while cracking up as he did so- it was so odd to hear an insult inside a statement of love or caring.

Next one to realize that Satsu, in an effort to tell Elizabeth that she loved her had slipped in an insult was Buffy; who, to Satsu's relief, broke out laughing instead of hitting her, even a friendly "hit" by a supergirl like Buffy would do significant damage to someone, and instead this blonde heroine started guffawing as if it was the funniest thing imaginable- inbetween her laughs she repeated the sentence "I love you, you idiot.", the contradiction had struck her as the most amusing thing imaginable today.

Satsu Yamamoto herself cracked up, but she did so partially in relief and partially in amusement, she was relieved that a fight wasn't about to occur, and amused at the oddness of her own statement. The petite but very strong oriental woman found this hilarious, and for perhaps the next quarter hour they were roaring with laughter at her own exceedingly odd profession of love and caring _"'I love you, you idiot.' What an odd thing to say."_ Satsu thought to her lighthearted embarrassment, but she was relieved that only her loved ones had heard her slip-up, so she was most unlikely to lose face, a major disaster in East Asian society.

"I wish I could stay, you people are a hoot and a half, but I've got to get back to work- I need your agreement for this task to be successful, though... do I have it?" Satsu asked lovingly, extending her hand in a gesture of total friendship and acceptance to her ex-girlfriend and the aforementioned ex's current boyfriend.

Some talking later Buffy and Spike agreed to do this diplomacy run to the Vampire Community- and with that their friendship was re-ignited, happily.

After Satsu dropped Buffy off at her apartment post mission the Asian beauty told her ex "Remember, Loving _**YOU**_ Is Fun!" while hugging her just a moment too long for Spike to be comfortable with that embrace, then she turned to Spike and told him "Remember; take good care of my friend, Buffy, or you'll have to answer to me for making her cry." she told him while shaking his hand as a friend. It surprised her that he took this sentence that could have been taken as a threat as a statement of friendship- not only to take good care of himself but also of his girl.

He repaid this warning she gave him with a carefully done salute... and as she took in that gesture she told Buffy and Spike "Feel free to look me up sometime- it was loads of fun to hang out again!"

Their answer warmed her heart "Don't worry, we will." both blondes told her simultaneously, while waving to her in response to her waving as she left the area to get back to her bosses and report this mission's success.

To Be Continued...

 **Chapter 1 Author's Notes End of Chapter:** _The odd part where Satsu says "I love you, you idiot." I picked up from an episode of "Living Right With Dr. Ray" which aired on the fifth of July 2016 on EWTN- the person who triggered this thought in the show's host that lead to that odd sentence had suggested something wherein the person's loved one or ones have such an antagonistic personality that even when they're telling you they love you it comes out as if they're yelling at you, and he suggested "I love you, you idiot.", well, that line was just so funny that I absolutely had to put it in a story, so I picked this one!_

 _I had wound up without intending to having Satsu have a broken heart, and I think I redeemed the relationship- better thought of as a friendship than a romance relationship anyways- by having Satsu tell her ex that this breakup broke her heart really- but I did set out to write a modest story about friendship-love, not really romantic or sexual feelings, but true caring about another._

 _The moral of the story is the joy of really caring about another is the true joy of humanity- this has nothing to do with sexual feelings- which only damage our ability to love someone- but real and true caring: that's the center of this story._

 _I had immense fun writing this, and I hope to hear your thoughts on this tale of true compassion- as well as the purpose of this tale is to advertise for real caring for others- instead of physical desire- which has corrupted the world and has to be driven back to the Perdition it comes from and out of humanity!_


End file.
